MGM Resorts Becomes NHL’s Official Sports Betting Partner In Historic New Deal

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman on Monday announced that the league struck a multi-year sponsorship agreement with MGM Resorts International (MGM), making the gaming and entertainment giant an official sports betting partner of the NHL. This follows a similar announcement by the National Basketball Association in July, where the NBA presented MGM as the NBA’s official gaming partner. 

The NHL deal, aside from designating MGM as an official partner, will allow MGM use of the NHL’s trademarks in connection with sports wagering at its properties internationally, as well as access to “official league data” including advanced data — some of which is still getting hammered out in the lab.

“The data we’re in the process of inventing is a process that’s been ongoing,” Bettman said. “It wasn’t our vision to develop it for sports betting, but as a broadcast enhancement to bring fans closer to the game.”

With Major Announcement Forthcoming, NHL Reportedly Going ‘All In’ On Sports Betting

The National Hockey League (NHL) will make a major announcement on Monday regarding its participation in the sports betting marketplace.

Sportnet’s Chris Johnston, a Toronto-based hockey insider for the NHL Network and a senior hockey writer for Sportnet, a Canadian equivalent of ESPN, said via Twitter, “The NHL has decided to dive head-first into the sports betting business. Official partnership(s) to be announced at a Monday morning press conference in New York. Word I’m hearing is “we’re going all in.”

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sent out a media advisory Friday alerting news outlets that he’ll speak at a Monday news conference in New York City.

No Further Information Yet Released on NHL’s Sports Betting Move, But Bettman’s Presence Appears to Guarantee Some Importance to the News Conference.

Should the NHL reveal some manner of official relationship with participants in the legal sports wagering marketplace, it would join the NBA in establishing a formal relationship with a gaming and bookmaking operation.

In July the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver announced at a news conference in New York a 3-year, $25 million marketing and data deal with MGM Resorts International. The non-exclusive arrangement largely focuses on marketing, but does grant MGM access to the league’s official data feed.

Bookmaker William Hill and New Jersey Devils Partner Strike Sponsorship Deal — A First In New Jersey

 

The William Hill Sports Lounge, located outside Section 18 on the Main Concourse of Newark’s Prudential Center, is the latest major marketing foray executed by the rapidly expanding U.S. bookmaking operation, William Hill US announced on Thursday.

ESPN reports that because the NHL is not comfortable with the venue being an actual sportsbook in which bets can be placed at windows and kiosks, instead, “company ambassadors” will assist bettors in downloading William Hill‘s betting app to make wagers online.

No opening date for the remodeled and rebranded space has been announced.

The venue, to be open during all New Jersey Devils NHL games, has been created in partnership with the Devils and the Prudential Center and will feature more than 20 digital screens showcasing the world’s most popular sporting events and displaying odds and betting propositions. The William Hill Sports Lounge will be also be open during more than 175 concerts and special events held at the arena annually.